The present invention relates to a browning composition which, when applied to a foodstuff, in particular french fries or a meat product, imparts a browning effect to the surface of the substrate to which it is applied. More in particular, the present invention relates to a low cost, reduced calorie browning composition which can be applied by spraying on a foodstuff, and which leads to browning of foodstuff within a short time.
Sprayable, edible products for dispensing on food surfaces are well known in the art. These products are for example used to impart a brown appearance and crispy texture to foods cooked in an oven or a microwave or foodstuff subjected to a combination of both hot air and microwave energy sources.
WO 91/14379 discloses aqueous solutions comprising precipitated hydroxyacetaldehyde which are useful for browning foodstuffs. Addition of amino acids to this aqueous solution to produce a Maillard type flavour is also disclosed.
The browning compositions of WO 91/14379 are generally applied in the form of an aqueous solution. This makes them less suitable for carrying flavours. Upon heating a foodstuff which has been covered with the browning composition, the water will evaporate, thereby taking away some of the flavour in the water vapour phase, leading to flavour depletion. Furthermore water containing compositions do not contribute to a fatty surface on the foodstuff which is often desired. Again due to evaporation of the water a dry surface often results after cooking.
EP-A-919,136 discloses a sprayable emulsion for enhancing browning of foodstuffs, in particular meat or meat products, which emulsion comprises
a fat or oil phase, in an amount of 85-97% by weight,
a water phase, in an amount of 3-15% by weight,
a browning agent, dissolved or dispersed (mainly) in the water phase.
According to EP-A-919,136 this composition can easily be sprayed onto foodstuffs such as harty snacks, meat, meat products etc. These products can as well be suitably used in shallow frying or baking. Food products treated with this composition are reported to be brown or gold brown after cooking.
However, the compositions according to EP-A-919,136, although imparting browning, are relatively high in fat content and hence have considerable caloric value. Moreover the high fat content makes these compositions relatively expensive.
Furthermore improvement of sprayability is desired.
It is an object of the current invention to provide a sprayable browning composition, which can be sprayed easily in the form of a finely divided spray without the need for a pressurized pumping mechanism, which composition is low price, reduced calorie, and a good carrier for flavour systems.
It has now been found that good results w.r.t. the above can be achieved by a sprayable emulsion for enhancing browning of foodstuffs, comprising an oil phase, a water phase and a browning agent, wherein the emulsion is an oil in water emulsion and the emulsion comprises
a oil phase, in an amount of 5 to 80% by weight,
a water phase, in an amount of 20 to 95% by weight,
a browning agent, dissolved or dispersed in the water phase
an emulsifier.